Railroad-crossing.



PATENTED DEC. 24, 1907.

w. HAWORTH. RAILROAD CROSSING. APPLICATION FILED AUG.22, 1907.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

&N v. M

WILLIAM E. HAWORTH, OF RIDGE FARM, TLLINOIS.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 24, 1907'- Application filed August 22, 1907. Serial No. 389,702-

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, XVILLIAM E. HAWORTH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ridge Farm, in the county of Vermilion and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Railroad-Crossing, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railroad crossings and its object is to provide means whereby the pounding produced by cars passing over ordinary crossings can be obviated.

Another object is to provide crossing rails which are disposed at diiferent elevations, those portions of the upper rails located above the lower railsbeing movably mounted and designed to be manipulated so as to open or close either track.

A still further object is to provide means whereby the movable sections can be locked in position above the rails thereunder.

,VVith these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of the invention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the crossing embodying the present improvements, portions thereof being shown in section and one set of movable rail sections being open while the other set is closed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 1, each portion thereof being broken away. Fig. 3 is a section on line 0ca:, 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged section through one of the locks.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 1, 1 designate bases extending under rails 2, 2 of the crossing, said rails being continuous and extending transversely of the bases. Secured to or formed with the base at the outside of and close to the rails 2 are plates 3 shaped to lap the outer base flanges 4 of rails 2 and having heads 5 formed longitudinally thereon and similar to ordinary rail heads. tend inwardly from the plates 3 and the heads 5 terminate at some distance from the rails 2 and are beveled at their ends as indicated at 7 Ears 8 extend inwardly from the head 5 adjacent the end 7 and pivotally connected to these ears are cars 9 formed with or secured to a rail section 10. One end of this section is beveled as at 11 so as to abut against the beveled end 7 of the head 5.

The other end of the rail section is cut away Supporting brackets 6 ex 1 so as to abut against or rest close to the adjacent rail 2. A tongue 12 extends from this end of the movable section and conforms and alines with the upper portion of the head 5. A supporting flange 13 extends upward from the plate 3 at a point outside of the ends 7 and 11 and the upper edge of this plate pro jects slightly above the head 5 at this point so that the car wheels when passing over the joint will ride upon the supporting plate 13 and pounding will therefore be eliminated. In order that the wheels may ride smoothly onto the plate 13 the ends of this plate are rounded or inclined as indicated at 14 in Fig. 2.

Interposed between the-rails 2 and above the base is an intermediate plate 15 the ends of which lap and are secured upon the inner base flanges of the rails 2. Extending up ward from the plate 15 is a fixed rail section 16 the upper portion of which is shaped to conform with the contour of an ordinary rail head. This section 16 is reduced at its ends to form beveled shoulders 17 against which the beveled ends of tongues 12 are designed to abut when the sections 10 are in position above the rails 2. The rail section 16 terminates at points removed from the rails 2 so that they will not be in the path of the flanges of wheels traveling along the rails 2.

Each tongue 12 has a socket in its outer face, said socket being indicated by the numeral 18. The bottom of the socket has a slot 19 extending thereinto from the outer face of the tongue, and said socket is preferably in the form of'an inverted pyramid frustum. That portion of the base 1 between the rails 2 is hollow as indicated at 20 and slidably mounted within the plate 15 and rails 8 and 16 are two stems 21 each of which has a head 22 at its upper end. The stems and heads are so positioned that when the tongues 12 are moved against the ends 17 said stems and heads will become seated within the respective slots 19 and sockets 18 of tongues 12. Each stem 21 is connected l by means of a link 23 with a crank 24 lo- 5 cated within the base 1 and secured to a I short shaft 25, one end of which extends upwardly from the base. Secured to these outer ends of the shafts are cranks 26 connected to actuating rods 27 which are designed to be operated by any suitable mechanisrn. These rods 27 are mounted in an 1 opening 28 formed in or under the rails 2. 1 Connecting the rails 2 at points midway l l l the bases 1' is a plate 29 to which are pivotally connected two levers 30 and 31 respectively. The ends of these levers have rods 32 pivotally connected to them and said rods are also pivotally secured to arms 33 extending from the movable rail sections 10. The parts are preferably so disposed that each lever is connected to diagonally opposed sections 10.

made of two parts connected by means of a turn buckle 34. Actuating rods 35 are con nected to the arms 33 of those sections located at one side of the rails 2 and are designed to be operated by any suitable mechanism.

It is to be understood that the sections 10 are normally s0 positioned that their tongues 12 extend over the rails 2 and abut against rail sections 16. The tongues may be locked in these positions by drawing the rods 27 in one direction so as to cause crank 26 to operate cranks 24 and pull downward on stems 21. Heads 22 will therefore become wedged within the respective sockets 18 and it is impossible to swing them out of alinement with the rail sections 5 and 16 unless these heads 22 are first raised so as to become disengaged from the tapered portions of the sockets. When the parts are disposed in this manner it will be apparent that cars will be directed along the rail sections 5, 10 and 16 and will pass above and over the rails 2 and upon a practically continuous rail thereby eliminating the pounding which is so objectionable because of the noise produced and the wear and tear upon the wheels and rails. If a train is to pass along the rails 2 the operator in charge of the ciossing shifts one of the rods 35 and causes one of the levers 30 and 31 to swing upon its fulcrum. Two diagonally disposed sections 10 will therefore be swung away from the rails 2 and into positions shown in full lines in Fig. 1. The other rod 35 is then actuated so as to cause the remaining two sections 10 to swing into positions indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. Rails 2 will thus be cleared and it becomes possible for a train to pass thereover without pounding. It is designed to extend the rods 27 and 35 to a signal tower and to provide mechanism whereby signals can be displayed to indicate to the engineer of an approaching train whether or not the crossing rails are properly set.

. If preferred, each rod 32 canbe.

It will of course be understood that the several rail sections 10 may be arranged to swing either inside or outside the rails 2 and i that if desired two of said sections may be positioned outside and two inside the rails, as the angle of the crossing permits, Without departing from the spirit of the invention.

hat is claimed is:

1. A railroad crossing comprising a lower track, an upper track, movable sections constituting portions of the upper track and normally alining therewith and extending across the rails of the lower track, a locking head in the path of each movable section and disposed to project thereinto, and means for actuating the heads to bind them upon the sections.

2. A railroad crossing comprising a lower track and an upper track, movable sections constituting portions of the upper track and normally alining therewith and extending across the rails of the lower track, vertically movable locking devices in the paths of the movable sections, said sections having sockets to receive said devices, and means for successively actuating said devices to. bind them upon a wall of each socket.

3. A railroad crossing com rising a lower track, an upper track, movab e sections con stituting portions of the up er track and nor mally alining therewith an extending across the walls of the lower track, a locking device in the path of and disposed to engage each section, and means for simultaneously actuating the locking devices.

1. A railroad crossing comprising a lower track, an upper track, movable sections constituting portions of the upper track and normally alining therewith and extending across the rails of the lower track, each of said sections having a socket, the bottom of each socket being recessed and slotted, a locking device in the path of each movable section and disposed to be seated within each slot and socket, and means for simultaneously actuating said devices to seat them within the recesses.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

XVILLIAM E. HAl/VOR-TH.

Witnesses:

GEORGE C. BUNNELL, L. W. HOLE. 

